Kroger Foundation and Mary Rigg Partner to Feed Hungry Children
Written by: Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center Posted on: April 16, 2020 Blog: News
A Hungry Child isn’t Ready to Learn and Kroger Foundation, along with Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, is Doing something about it.
Today, Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center announced that it has received $5,000 of special funding from the Kroger Foundation. These funds will be used to support three hunger relief programs serving individuals in the West Indianapolis area.
“Food is the third largest expense for a family in Indiana. For those in poverty, the decision about where to use precious dollars can be difficult,” says Clark Lienemann, President of Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. “Through a decade of work in schools, we know that some students don’t eat consistently on weekends and a hungry child isn’t ready to learn. With this gift, the Kroger Foundation is helping us to address that issue.”
Mary Rigg will be utilizing a portion of the funds to improve the quality of food offered through their weekly food market. In addition to increasing the quality of the food, Mary Rigg will be able to include meat on a regular basis for more than 400 individuals each month.By providing a consistent supply of meat, Mary Rigg hopes to improve nutrition and health of those who use the pantry.
A portion of this funding will also be used to create a backpack program for students and families in two local schools who are experiencing irregular or, in some cases, no proper meals on weekends. The backpacks will be filled with food and discreetly distributed to kids on Friday afternoons – eliminating weekend malnutrition. The kids will then be able to return the backpack the next week, continuing the program.
Additionally, this money will be used to support a morning snack program. This program will provide snacks to children who do not get breakfast at home before leaving for school
Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center consistently serves nearly 5,000 families and individuals through basic needs programs through a weekly food market, monthly fresh produce, and emergency food assistance.